By now, despite my reluctance to post anything about it here, most of you know that Bull City Records released its first 7″ in January. The release has been doing very well on its own steam and I’ve been extremely excited to be a part of it. Actually, I was flattered to even be given the masters to send off to the pressing plant – I thought for sure that they’d realize the weight of what they had and move on quickly to bigger things. Before the release hit the streets, I awkwardly asked if I’d be able to do the next one. Much to my surprise they agreed yet again! Following the second 7″, which we should see in a couple months, I’m hoping they will have been snagged up by a larger label and on to the next tier where they belong.

If you have not taken a second to see the Whatever Brains in all their live glory, I suggest you do so. I’ve got a handful of live video shots that I need to upload to youtube. If you have not heard them, I suggest you march on over to their myspace page and give it a spin.

The point of this post is to announce that our beloved Brains have been given a shot at the bigger leagues. My rep at Matador asked the other week if I’d like for them to try and sell some. All I have to do now is fill out a W9 form and send ’em a batch of thirty! With this batch on the road, it means we’ve been able to move about 250 of the 7″s just in the first two months. It has been very exciting to watch the progress – we’ve been learning as we go along. Let’s not get too excited though, Matador is still able to return them if they don’t sell…so it’s best not to jinx their generous offer. But c’mon, this band is the biggest thing to come out of the Triangle in years.

Accompanying him are locals Anne Gomez (CGJ, America’s Next Top Models, etc.) on bass and John Darnielle (Mountain Goats, himself) on keys with Brian Jones (Agents of Good Roots) on drums. Jandek has been recording his music under a shroud of mystery for the last thirty years. Recording and layering his music by himself and releasing it, again by himself, to the masses first through LPs and now through CD. We can be hopeful that he returns full time to vinyl.

Last night I saw Antony & the Johnsons on Letterman. It was truly something amazing and as much as I find it strange to review a television appearance, you’re just gonna have to bare with me – I have yet to see them live. As soon as I received the new album in the mail a couple months ago, I became a convert and I finally was open to the absolute beauty of his songwriting. Really, I was a bit dumbfounded and embarrassed to have passed over such an artist in the past. I’d always just pushed his music off to the side as part of the new oddball-“avant”-indie-movement. A songwriter joining the ranks of the new phase of faux-eccentric artists looking to make a name through kitsch and gimmick.

Little did I know this man was the real thing. A twisted, shining moment that only comes through in the swing of music once every decade or so. Maybe it’s just because I’m in my 51st Velvets/proto-punk obsession phase and I’m more prone to being swept away by the avant, androgynous flirting with the music norms. Maybe it was seeing him on an established variety show like Letterman that excited me – an artist living on the edge of what is accepted, yet too pretty and relevant to hide. Perhaps his appearance has everything to do with Paul Shaffer still appreciating and realizing good music and pushing it on the Late Night crew. Maybe the writers are hip to it, or the interns, maybe even Letterman likes pushing his audience a little – which is actually why I like to watch him. Letterman toys with the audience and pokes them a bit, he brings an edge with a grin into his show, like he’s got a secret on you. But anyway, that’s beside the point. As I watched this enormous, other-worldly voice creep out of this androgynous, black-haired being hunkered behind a piano on a show catering towards conservative, TV-watching America, I was enamored. It was a scene from a smoke-filled bar room with a lost soul perched behind his one love, one comfort, his instrument, crooning out his soul and angle towards an audience unsure if they wanted to listen, unsure if they believed what they were seeing. It was this scene, but broadcast into everyone’s room in every state. I got this swell of pride that there’s room for a genuine edge in mainstream music again. Or at least edge and beauty are allowed to flirt, tangle and clash in front of a large audience that wants it.

The raw emotion and honesty of the performance is what really inspired me. That duality and juxtaposition of beauty and turmoil. Beauty existing in the dark. Pain put on a pedestal. It reminded me of the uneasiness of the perfect Lou Reed performance, when Bowie could chillingly deliver a bent ballad, Richard Hell and Patti Smith creating a jarring background for their biting poetry, Iggy baring himself and breaking down in his primal state to the audience – they all stir that similar, welcome feeling of inspiration deep enough to penetrate a jaded soul. It was beautiful to experience this and it makes his new album that much richer. He’s on to something special here and I intend to follow it. It’s too beautiful and heart-wrenching to ignore.

But then again. I am a jaded record store clerk and I am reading too much on Iggy, the Velvets and the proto-punk generation at the moment. Again. Maybe this is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

Chaz-fact#232: I was working the graveyard at a 24hr convenience store in CO and this memorable, hunkering, short-bleached-hair gentleman comes in. Lou Reed is playing literally 5 blocks away and I could not get off work – it was bad. I was not happy. I was listening to VU & Nico and and as he bought smokes he commented on how he’d have to tell Lou that some kid was playing his music in the local convenience store. I was thrilled. Years later after hearing that Antony had been a backup singer for Lou Reed, I saw a picture of him and realized he was that random, memorable dude. I became thrilled all over again. From Lou Reed backup to starlet of his own show pushing the same eccentric values. Perfect.

The year itself is off to a great start; however, within the world of rock’n’roll there are some unfortunate stirrings.

A couple days ago marked the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper – the tagged “Day the Music Died.” Granted, most of us have gotten over this by now (the majority of us reading this weren’t even born yet), but it’s still something we can feel the ripples from and we are very aware of its importance and ultimate tragedy. Personally, I think this day should be turned into one of those party days that have been sneakily turned into “holidays” and excuses to either take off work or get nothing done and have a party instead. I won’t name any of these “holidays” but I’m pretty sure you all know what I’m talking about. They might not fall on the same days as each other, but we all have ’em…and we all use them to their fullest extent. So, this will be my new “holiday,” care to join me? February 3rd. See ya next year.

February 4th, 2009, just a couple days ago, we lost a monumental figure in the shaping of punk rock and the American underground music movement. Lux Interior of the Cramps (that’s a video from their infamous set at Napa State Mental Hospital) passed away in a hospital from heart failure. Not only did he bring traditional music and blues/rockabilly into the underground scene, gaining a new found respect for it, but he helped forge a new hybrid of popular music. He smashed horror/sci-fi movie lyrics and mumblings into a sexually charged, tangled, fuzzy mess of blues and rock’n’roll. The Cramps have been cited as paving a pulsing path to both the psychobilly and horrorpunk genres. For that, we owe them heaving amounts of respect and gratitude. Afterall, it was partly the Cramps responsibility for spawning the DC hardcore scene after Ian MacKaye and crew saw them live on tour and there’s no doubt in my mind that it was the Cramps who planted the seed in Glenn Danzig’s head leading him to create the Misfits. That’s something of which to be extremely proud. Lux Interior helped to put the danger back into rock’n’roll, he made it something to be scared and in awe of all over again. The 70s had caused rock to go soft and like the Stooges before him, he was there to rattle things up all over again. Which leads us to the next bit of sad news.

As I posted earlier, in the beginning of January, Ron Asheton, co-founder of the Stooges was found dead in his home. Ron Asheton created the dark, dirgy guitar riffs that made the Stooges who they were. Leaving behind boring chord structures, he played simple, blues-inspired lines with a seething, bottom-heavy distortion. With Dave Alexander on bass and Ron’s brother, Scott on drums, laying down a mesmerizing, rhythmic backdrop, Ron cut and sliced his way in a gnarly, muscly fashion disrupting the relaxed environment the two were creating and locking down. Whatever dark, meditational tones the rhythm section plugged away at, he was there to slaughter it and create an inner-song build and tension. He created the anxious playground over which Iggy Pop was allowed to dance, croon and howl. Not too many guitarist are credited with inspiring literal decades of musicians. Look up the Stooges on Youtube and you’ll experience the full on power of the band.

I’ll wrap it up there since I already talked at length about the Stooges and Ron Asheton last month. Right now as I’m putting this together, the Cramps are being played over the air on WXDU. Thanks guys!

So, where this might be a promising year for modern music, we’re already off to a nervous start for the classics and the ones who have inspired us. Time to show respect for our elders.